Wilderness School
by RascalJoy
Summary: Piper is so frustrated with her life at the Wilderness School. With bullies constantly egging her, she wonders how she'll make it through the year. But when a certain blond haired Superman comes along, she realizes that this school year might get a bit interesting.
1. I'm Jason

**Hello, everyone! So, this came up when I was doing a writing assignment for my Expository Writing class at co-op earlier this evening. We're supposed to take an ordinary sentence, and add more sensory details and stuff. This one accidentally turned into a story. The prompt was 'He was nice.' I ended up filling a little over three college-ruled notebook pages with my revision. Go figure. **

Piper strode quickly down the school hallway. She kept her gaze fixed on the tiles in front of her, clutching the straps of her backpack tightly as she maneuvered through the thick crowd of students.

She reached her locker and breathed a sigh of relief. Made it.

She almost unconsciously twirled the combination lock and pulled open the door. She reached for her English notebook, only for the door to be slammed shut, barely missing her fingers.

She yelped in surprise and took an involuntary step backward, clutching her hand to her chest.

"Hello, honey," said a sickly sweet voice next to her.

Piper glanced over to see a girl leaning on the locker next to hers. The girl had curly brown hair with natural blonde highlights, ending at her waist. Her lips were a luscious pink color, and her blue eye shadow complimented her startling blue eyes and blouse. In other words, she was beautiful.

"Isabel," Piper growled. "Why don't you go bother someone else for a change."

Isabel pursed her lips and tilted her head thoughtfully. "I'm not _bothering_ you, am I, dear? I just wanted to tell you how _amazing_ that shapeless, ratty T-shirt goes with those ripped jeans. And your hair is in the perfect form of a rat's nest. Way to dress, Dumpster Queen."

Piper felt her cheeks heat up with embarrassment and anger as Isabel's cronies snickered at their leader's jab. She clenched her fists angrily and tried to stop her teeth from grinding. "Tell it to someone who cares, Isabel," she hissed.

Isabel's eyes widened in mock surprise. "Oh, I'm sorry, dear. I forgot that Cherokees don't know how to dress properly. I suppose you've got it even worse since your dad isn't rich enough to buy you anything decent, and your mom abandoned you before she could give you any fashion tips."

Piper roared in anger and leapt at Isabel, tackling her to the ground.

Isabel shrieked and clawed Piper's face with her painted turquoise nails.

Piper was too angry to care. Her vision was tinged red as she brought back her fist to wipe that smirk off of Isabel's face. Before she could deliver the blow, someone dragged her off.

"All right, break it up, cupcakes!" a voice bellowed in her ear.

Piper struggled to her feet and turned to see…nothing. She looked down and found herself face-to-face with a very angry Coach Hedge.

"What's going on here, McLean?" the coach barked.

Piper flinched slightly at the use of her last name. She scuffed her shoe against the ground, not meeting the small man's gaze. "Nothing, Coach," she mumbled.

"Nothing!" he scoffed. "You looked about ready to knock her block off!" He gestured at Isabel.

"Sorry, Coach," she muttered. "Won't happen again."

"It better not," he huffed. "Now get to the infirmary and get those scratches taken care of. Then get to class!"

"Yes, Coach," she grumbled.

"And you!" Coach Hedge looked disdainfully at Isabel who had been dragged up by a couple of the other girls. "Stop goading her on!"

"Of course, Coach," Isabel said, smiling winningly and batting her overly long eyelashes. "Whatever you say."

Hedge huffed in satisfaction. He turned to glare at the crowd who had gathered around them. "The rest of you, get moving!" he hollered. "Everyone outside and give me twenty laps around the building! Anyone slacks off, and I'm bringing out my baseball bat!"

Everyone groaned and headed for the doors, Coach running around in the back of the group and herding them along with his baseball bat.

Hot tears welled up in Piper's eyes, threatening to spill over. She stamped her foot angrily. If Isabel knew the truth about her dad, Piper would be the most popular girl in school. But she didn't want that. She didn't want anyone to notice her.

"Hey, you okay?" a voice said.

Piper spun around and involuntarily gasped. Standing behind her was a tall boy with short blond hair. He wore a plain purple T-shirt and jeans, and his arms were well-muscled. His chiseled features made him look almost like a living, breathing, Roman statue, with only a small white scar above his upper lip that marred the image; Piper found it cute. His electric blue eyes shown with concern.

"Uh," Piper said intelligently. She swallowed the lump in her throat. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm good." She brushed off her worn clothes, not meeting his gaze. "Um, you must be new here."

The boy nodded.

"Then let me be the first to welcome you to the Wilderness School!" Piper announced, spreading her arms wide. "Where kids are the animals!"

The boy laughed, a breezy sound that made Piper tingle all over.

She cleared her throat awkwardly. "Um, I should probably get to the infirmary." She started to walk down the hall, but the boy grabbed her arm.

"Wait," he said, "I don't even know your name."

Piper fought the urge to smile as she turned back to face him. She held out her hand and he took it. An electric charge surged up her arm as their fingers met.

"I'm Piper," she said, trying to sound nonchalant.

The boy smiled, and the scar over his lip just about disappeared.

"I'm Jason," he said. "It's good to meet you, Piper."

**So what do you think? It's almost word for word what I had on paper, except I just had to add the Wilderness School thing at the end, and I think it has less detail than I want. I didn't look up Isabel's description in the book, so...yeah. Was Coach Hedge a bit OOC? Let me know in a review!**

**I might be making this a series of one-shots about Piper, Jason, and Leo's them at Wilderness School, but I'm not sure. Should I continue?**

**Check out my other stories and vote on my poll! It means so much to me!**


	2. Meet Leo Valdez

**11-4-13**

**Oh. My. Gosh. I told myself I would never be one of those people who don't update for months on end. And here I am doing just that. I am SO SORRY, guys! Life's been hectic, and I honestly wasn't sure where I was going I this one. I knew what this chapter would be, but I was focusing on all of my fics that HAD to be out before "House of Hades" came out if they were to get any credit. Then this one kinda faded into the background, I guess.**

**Bet you guys thought I had gone missing and decided not to continue this. Well, nope! Still here!**

**I also had no idea this story would be so popular. Seriously, you guys are AMAZING!**

**Thank you Swimchick37 for reviewing! Thank you DaughterOfMinerva-Athena and LovesLoveAndAngst for favoriting! Thank you Feearlesss, ColourMeSpontaneous, halfbloodMarauderX, and awesomebookworm57 for following! Thank you Liana Legaspi for reviewing and favoriting! Thank you AnnaYasashii for reviewing, favoriting, and following!**

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Piper closed her locker door, a satisfying _clang_ echoing through the nearly empty hall. Another day of school had come and gone. But this time, there was something to look forward to. She smiled as she turned to leave. Jason had said he would meet her outside of the school building, and she didn't want to be late. She shoved the front door open and stepped outside, breathing deeply as the fresh air washed over her face.

The weather was surprisingly warm for a fall day, but then she had no idea what kind of weather to expect in Nevada. She was grateful for that, since she hadn't brought her coat out of the dorm.

"Hey."

She started slightly, and whirled around to find that Jason had come up behind her. "Oh, hey," she stammered. She mentally kicked herself. _Real smooth, McLean_, she chided.

"Sorry," he apologized, looking slightly sheepish. "Didn't meant to startle you."

Piper shook herself slightly and smiled. "Not your fault. I wasn't paying attention."

Jason smiled, his bright white teeth flashing in the receding sunlight. "So, how was your day?"

Piper opened her mouth to respond, but stopped as she heard footsteps running toward them from inside the school building.

The doors burst open and someone dashed out, running toward them at an incredible speed.

"Out of the way!" the person called.

But before either of them could react, the person was on top of them—literally. The person bowled into them, sending all three to the ground in a puff of red dust.

Piper spat out a mouthful of dirt and wriggled onto her back to glare at the offender. The boy could have passed as a Latino Santa's elf. He had dark, curly hair with calf brown eyes glinting with mirth, his ears slightly pointy.

"Watch where you're going!" she exclaimed.

The boy jumped off of them. "Sorry!" he yelped.

"Wait!" Jason cried, grabbing the boy's ankle as he made to dash off.

"Hey!" the boy protested. "Lemme go!"

"Not until you tell us what you're running from," Piper declared, standing up and brushing the dirt off of her clothes.

The boy's eyes flickered from the now closed doors, to them, and back again. "Uh, I'm kinda in a hurry," he said.

"Why?"

As if in answer, the doors slammed open once more, revealing a very small, very angry man.

"Valdez!" Coach Hedge screamed, baseball bat twirling above his head.

The elf boy turned to look at the Coach, one eyebrow raised. "Yeah, Coach?"

The Coach trotted up to them, panting with rage, his pupils surprisingly dilated. "You are so going I get it, Valdez," he hissed. His eyes wandered to Piper and his eyes narrowed. "McLean!" he barked. "You in on this too?"

"No, Coach," Piper said innocently. "I was just here with Jason this whole time."

A flicker of confusion passed over Coach Hedge's face. "Jason?"

"Every man for himself!" the strange Latino shouted, running off toward the dorm buildings.

Piper snatched Jason's hand and pulled him to his feet, running after the elf as Coach chased after them, his baseball bat raised high. They turned the corner to find themselves faced with empty space, the boy nowhere in sight.

"Psst! Over here!"

Piper turned and spotted the Latino crouching behind the dumpster up against the back wall. She quickly dragged Jason over, ducking behind the metal container just as the Coach barreled around the corner and right past their hideout.

They waited until his footsteps had fully receded.

Piper turned toward the boy indignantly. "What was that all about?" she demanded. "Who are you?"

The boy flashed a grin. He stood up and bowed with a flourish. "Name's Valdez. Leo Valdez," he said, amusement dancing in his eyes. "And Coach is after me because I slipped some bacon into his lettuce and tomato sandwich." He absently ran a hand through his crazy curls, the fingers of his free hand tapping incessantly against the legs of his jeans.

This kid was seriously ADHD.

"Who knew the guy was vegetarian?" he continued. "With the way he acts all the time, I would have bet money he ate red meat on a daily basis. What's a BLT without the bacon, I say."

"Piper McLean," Piper announced, reaching out to shake his hand. "And this is Jason."

Leo and Jason shook hands, Leo looking thoughtfully in Piper's direction.

"McLean, eh?" he mused. "Where have I heard that name before?"

"It's pretty common," Piper said automatically. "No surprise."

Leo nodded, but still looked slightly unsure.

Piper would have to watch what she said if she didn't want her secret out, though she did have the strangest feeling she could trust these two.

"Well," Jason said, "we'd better get back to the dorm."

"Okay," Piper said, trying not to sound disappointed. "See you tomorrow, then?"

Jason smiled. "Sure. Same time, same place."

Piper looked at Leo expectantly. "Well?" she asked when he didn't respond. "You coming?"

Leo jumped slightly, looking surprised. "What?"

Piper rolled her eyes. "I said 'are you coming,' silly. We're going to meet outside the school building after the last bell. Do you want to meet with us, or not?"

Leo looked absolutely dumbfounded for a split second, but he covered it up with a crazy grin before Piper could be sure. "Are you kidding? Of course I'll be there!"

Piper nodded in satisfaction. "See you boys tomorrow," she called, heading toward the front of the girls dorm.

Today had certainly been interesting. And hanging out with Jason and Leo Valdez, the school year was beginning to look a whole lot more promising.

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**So what did you think? I know it's short and the end is dumb, but drop a review anyway?**

**Also, I need some SERIOUS help with ideas for future chapters! There's a bare minimum of their experiences that I can use in TLH (for example, the shaving cream and jello prank) but I NEED IDEAS! Anyone who reviews with a prompt that I use will get that chapter dedicated to them! Sound good? :)**

**Check out my other stories and vote on my poll! It would mean SO MUCH to me if you did!**


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